Athlete Race Recap: Portishead Sprint Triathlon, Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon, & Sharon Sprint Triathlon

We had racing going on all over the world this past weekend!

Portishead Sprint Triathlon - Melksham, United Kingdom

Rachel Andrew raced the Portishead Sprint Triathlon over in the UK on Saturday, August 14.  She also raced this event in 2019, and her 2021 result was a significant improvement from two years ago!  Rachel’s hard work and commitment to fitness throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic is paying off, and she got to see some tangible results of that this past weekend.

Her overall time was 13 minutes faster than in 2019!  Most of this time was on the bike; her bike split alone was nine minutes faster than two years ago, but her swim and run times were also faster.  That’s right; Rachel was faster in ALL THREE disciplines!

Congratulations to Rachel on such a wonderful result!  While I can see that athletes are making gains in their training, it’s usually quite helpful for the athletes themselves to have race results that show them the gains that I observe over a longer period of time as I monitor their training.  Keep up the hard work, Rachel!

Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon - San Francisco, California

After TWO YEARS of waiting since she won her lottery spot in this race, Jacquie Cragget finally got to race the legendary Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon in San Francisco on Sunday, August 15.

This race includes a 1.5-mile swim from Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.  Then, it has a hilly 18-mile bike course that takes athletes through Golden Gate Park.  Finally, athletes run through the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.  It’s safe to say that this race is a unique, wonderful way to experience the city of San Francisco!

Not only did Jacquie get to race this epic event, she finished at the top of the podium in her age group by a mere 29 seconds!  Way to go, Jacquie!

Jacquie has published a full race report from this event; definitely give that a read if you'd like to hear more about her exciting, wonderful day!

Sharon Sprint Triathlon - Sharon, Massachusetts

Sarah Grundy had a great race at the Sharon Sprint Triathlon!  She improved her bike split from last week’s Niantic Bay Triathlon and had a strong, fast run!  Sarah reported that she was so pleased with this race result and with how she felt over the course of the entire race.  Well done, Sarah!